In 2019, Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions reached their highest point in 12 years, according to a state Department of Ecology report released Wednesday. Emissions reached 101.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019, which was a 6.9% increase over 2018. The spike was due to increased electricity demand and a poor hydropower year, which pushed utility companies to use fossil fuels to make up the difference, Ecology said. “Our greenhouse gas emission from electricity generation were significantly higher than they’ve been in recent years," said Andrew Wineke with the Department of Ecoloy. "That’s because we had a dry year there wasn’t that much water behind our state’s dams and so we had to rely on coal and natural gas to make up the difference in that electrical generation.” Joel Creswell, climate policy section manager with Ecology, said the report was “a stark reminder” that Washington must cut emissions. Greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, trap heat in the atmosphere and are one of the primary contributors to climate change. Ecology uses state and federal data to put together an emissions inventory every two years. The agency said nationwide data typically comes with a “significant” lag time in reporting, which is why 2019 is the most recent full reporting year. Preliminary 2020 data suggests emissions went down that year due to improved hydropower conditions and a decline in electricity demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/washington-emissions-climate-change-report/281-97fad2d4-2b7e-43d3-92ac-ee19adfac97c